TITLE: What about
the Gift of Prophecy ?
Date : The Lord's Day 12/02/2012
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| AW Tozer was considered by many to be a modern day prophet |
Last week
we looked at 1 Corinthians
14 from
a “descriptive perspective“. We
took note of what the apostle Paul had described and emphasized in 1 Corinthians 14. We noted that tongues and prophecies were functioning
gifts in the apostolic church. In the Corinthian church tongue speaking
was apparently the most popular gift, and this was not unrelated to the Greek
love affair with the mystery
religions . We also noted that the
apostle Paul did not encourage the speaking of tongues in
public worship. He says it repeatedly , and sums up his view in 14:9 and 18. He prefers clarity and
intelligibility. At the heart of
Paul’s argument is that the church must be edified; she must be
built up through the use of spiritual gifts. He thus curbs the exaggerated attention which
the Corinthian church gave to tongue speaking.
This was not true for the gift of prophecy (14: 1,5,31,39). On the
contrary, Paul encouraged it. He said that prophecy
is a useful gift for the “upbuilding , encouragement and consolation“ of the church. (14:3)
But what exactly is prophecy?
This is an important
question, for there is much
confusion concerning it. Paul does not give us a working definition in this passage. He only
tells us what it achieves : it builds up, it encourages and it comforts (14:3). But what is the gift prophecy?
WHAT IT CANNOT MEAN
1. Whatever this gift is , it cannot be on the same level as that word of the
prophets and apostles who are
called “the foundation of the church” (Eph 2:20). That type of prophecy is unquestionable and unique in its authority. The word of the Old Testament
prophets is “something more sure“. Peter calls it
the “prophetic word” (2
Pet 1:19) It is as good as God's word[1].
Therefore, to disbelieve or disobey a prophet's words was to disbelieve or
disobey God [2]. In the New Testament were the "apostles"
, the New Testament counterpart to the
Old Testament prophets.[3]
It is the apostles, not the prophets, who have authority to speak the words of New Testament Scripture.
2. Whatever this gift means, it cannot bear the same authority and
degree of revelation, because there
is essentially no need for further revelation. Jesus is God’s final revelation.
(Heb 13 : 1 –3). The apostolic writings and the gospels are God’s final Word for these last days. There can be no
prophecies that would add to our
present knowledge in addition to Scripture . That would bring
us into serious conflict with Hebrews
1:1-3 and the principle of the
sufficiency of Scripture. No
greater revelation than Christ has given
us of heavenly realities can follow
right now. We must wait for the second coming of Christ to take us to heaven. So, with Christ, the words of the prophets were sealed.
3. Internal evidence (i.e. within
Chapter 14 ) helps us to see that
prophecy mentioned here is not the same kind : When
Paul says for instance , "Let two or three prophets speak,
and the others should weigh carefully what is said" (1 Cor. 14:29), he suggests that they should listen carefully and
sift the prophecy . The word for “weighing
carefully” is the Greek word “diakrino” (dia
– through ; krino – to judge) - hence to consider thoroughly and carefully
. We cannot imagine that an Old Testament prophet such as Isaiah would have
said, "Listen to what I say, and weigh what is said—and sort the good from the bad…! No ! He speaks – “Thus says the Lord…” , and he is not inviting any further dialogue
! But here Paul commands that this is how
it should be done in the church , suggesting that this
type of prophecy did not have the authority of God’s
word. In
1 Cor 14:30-31 Paul
allows one prophet to interrupt another one: "If a revelation is made
to another sitting there , let the first be silent. For you can all prophesy one by one, so that all may learn an all be encouraged …". If prophets had been speaking God's very
words, equal in value to Scripture, it is hard to imagine that Paul would say
they should be interrupted and not allowed to finish their message. But that is
what Paul commands here. There is something about this prophecy that
must be weighed and tested. This also
appears to be the implication of Paul’s statement to the Thessalonians (2 Thess
5:20,21) where he says: “…Do not treat prophecies with contempt. Test everything. Hold on to the good. Avoid every kind of evil“. Paul plainly recommends that such prophecies
should be tested. They should not be automatically assumed to be God’s words. He challenges the
Corinthians in 14:36 : “Did
the word of God originate with you ? Or
are you the only people it has reached ?"
Then in verses 37 and 38 he claims authority greater than
any prophet at Corinth: "If any one thinks that he is a prophet, or
spiritually gifted, let him acknowledge that what I am writing to you is a
command of the Lord." It
is plain then that Paul ascribes greater and unquestionable authority to his own words!
So we come to the conclusion that the spiritual gift of prophecy in the church had less authority than scripture prophecy or apostolic teaching.
So we come to the conclusion that the spiritual gift of prophecy in the church had less authority than scripture prophecy or apostolic teaching.
THE PURPOSE OF
PROPHECY :
Nothing directly in our text helps us
to understand the nature of prophecy . Therefore we will have to look a
little “wider“.
Why did Jesus choose the new term "apostle"
to designate those who had the authority to write Scripture? It was probably
because the Greek word prophetes ("prophet") at the time of
the New Testament had a very broad range of meanings. It generally did not have
the sense of "one who speaks God's very words", but rather of "one who speaks on
the basis of some external influence" (often a spiritual influence of
some kind. Note :prophecy is not peculiar to the Christian faith ;
‘Fortune telling’ belongs to the same
category). Titus 1:12
uses the word in this sense, where Paul quotes a secular concerning the Cretes: "Even one of their own prophets has said, 'Cretans
are always liars, evil brutes, lazy gluttons" . This has nothing to do with “Christian
prophecy”.
The soldiers who mock Jesus also seem to use the word "prophesy" in this
way, when they blindfold Jesus and cruelly demand, "Prophesy! Who
hit you?" (Luke 22:64). They
don't mean, "Speak words of absolute divine authority," but, "Tell
us who hit you!” (compare John 4:19 also).
So , if this
type of prophecy has nothing to do with the writing of authoritative Scripture ,
then what is it?
Paul indicates that God could bring something spontaneously to mind, so that the person prophesying
would report it in his or her own words. Paul calls this a "revelation"(
Gr. apokalupsis) : "If a revelation is made to another sitting there , let
the first be silent. For you can
all prophesy one by one , so that all may learn an all be encouraged …" (1
Cor. 14:30-31) Here Paul is here simply referring to something that God
may suddenly bring to mind, or something that God may impress on someone's
heart or thoughts, in such a way that the person has a sense that it is from
God.
Notice the effect upon the congregation : 1
Cor14:24 ,25 [24] But
if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or outsider enters, he is convicted by all,
he is called to account by all, [25] the secrets of his heart are
disclosed, and so, falling on his face, he will worship God and declare that
God is really among you.
Wayne Grudem writes : “ I have heard a report of this happening
in a clearly non-charismatic Baptist church in America: A missionary speaker
paused in the middle of his message and said something like this: "I
didn't plan to say this but it seems the Lord is indicating that someone in
this church has just walked out on his wife and family. If that is so, let me
tell you that God wants you to return to them and learn to follow God's pattern
for family life." The missionary did not know it, but in the unlit balcony
sat a man who had entered the church moments before for the first time in his
life. The description fit him exactly, and he made himself known,
acknowledged his sin, and began to seek after God.
In this way, prophecy serves as a "sign"
for believers (1 Cor. 14:22)
- it is a clear demonstration that God is definitely at work in their midst, a
"sign" of Gods hand of blessing on the congregation. And since it
will work for the conversion of unbelievers as well, Paul encourages this gift
to be used when "unbelievers or
outsiders enter" (1 Cor. 14:23-25).
Many of us have experienced or heard of similar
events.
For example, an unplanned but urgent request may have
been given to pray for someone. Then much later those who prayed
discovered that just at that time people had been in a car accident or at a point of intense spiritual
conflict, and had needed those prayers. Paul would call the sense or intuition
of those things a "revelation" and the report to the assembled church
of that prompting from God would be called a "prophecy."
(A similar thing happened to us when our son Martin
nearly drowned - The Lord showed a lady here in the congregation that this was
to happen – and she prayed- though we
did not know - and thankfully Martin was
spared !)
D.A.
Carson says [4]
: One begins to suspect that prophecy may occur more often than is
recognized in non-charismatic circles , and less often than is recognized in
charismatic churches…. What preacher has not had the experience , after
detailed preparation for public ministry , of being interrupted in the full
flow of his delivery with a new thought , fresh and powerful , interrupting
him… until he makes room for it and incorporates it into his message –only to
find after the service that the insertion was the very bit that seemed to touch
the most people, and meet their needs … The same is true for healings - these also happen in non charismatic churches in response to the gift of faith.
I
wonder whether you know that our
own Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834 – 1892) was subject to a most
remarkable and striking prophecy[5]? He was still a child when his grandfather brought to the church a former missionary by the name of Richard
Knill for special meetings. Knill had spent many years in India and in
Russia and was at that time serving in England. He became much taken with young Charles , quickly recognizing his
unusual mental ability and his rare clarity of speech. For instance , Charles
read the Scriptures every day , and reporting of this experience , Knill said:”I have old ministers and young ones read well , but never did I hear a
little by read so correctly before .”
When it was time to leave the family stood around , and Richard Knill
took young Charles on his knee and made the pronouncement : “This child will one day preach the gospel , and will preach it to great
multitudes , and I am persuaded he will preach in the chapel of Rowland Hill”
. Rowland Hill’s chapel (Surrey Chapel) was one of the largest in England at
that time, and in later years Charles did preach there.Spurgeon himself testifies: “He spoke very solemnly , and called upon all to witness what he said. Then he gave me a six pence as a reward if I would learn the hymn : ‘God moves in mysterious ways , His wonders to perform.” I was made to promise , that when I preached in Rowland Hill’s chapel , that hymn should be sung. … would it ever be an idle dream? Years flew by. After I had begun for some little time to preach in London, Dr Alexander Fletcher was engaged to deliver the annual sermon to the children in Surrey Chapel , but as he was taken ill , I was asked in a hurry to preach to the children in his stead . ‘ Yes’, I replied , ‘ I will’ , if you will allow the children to sing ‘ God moves in mysterious ways , His wonders to perform.’ I have made a promise long ago that that hymn should be sung when I preached there.
And
so it was . I preached in Rowland Hills chapel , and the hymn was sung. My
emotions on that occasion I cannot describe , for the word of the Lord’s
servant was fulfilled.”
IMPLICATION AND APPLICATION :
1. Prophecy is “telling something that God has
spontaneously brought to mind." (Wayne Grudem
).“ It denotes something like our
preaching , but it is not identical with it. It is not the delivery of
a carefully prepared sermon , but the uttering of words directly inspired by
God“ [8]
2. Prophecy must be weighed i.e. it does
not have to be accepted as binding or “
as the word of the Lord” . Often , it appears as if we simply have to wait in
order to see whether something is really of God . Therefore we must not be
overly eager to call something from the
Lord – wait until it happens – and then give praise to God!
3. If a prophecy
conflicts or contradicts with Scripture , it should be immediately
discarded. Under no circumstance can this prophecy overrule the
word of God.
4. The purpose of prophecy is for strengthening , encouragement and comfort see 14:3 i.e. edification . This may
certainly include rebuke, since
that also leads ultimately to our comfort.
5. True Prophecy is something outside of ourselves. Therefore, the issue is one of the sovereignty of
the Spirit of God. God sovereignly can use anyone, or choose to gift certain ones
for the purpose of strengthening and encouraging the church in this way.
6. We
must guard ourselves from manipulating the Spirit for our own ends. In fact we may be assured that the
Spirit who is sovereign , cannot be manipulated . At the same time we may
expect Him to work in unusual ways. We cannot say that the Spirit cannot do something.
7. The
claims of the charismatic movement
concerning the normative occurrences of tongues , prophecies etc. are
exaggerated.
8. The
use of tongues and prophecies cannot
enjoy prominence above the proclamation of the word of God.
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